Roy Hodgson's Rio Ferdinand gaffe could cost England

Roy Hodgson will gather his England players in the centre-circle at St
George’s Park on Tuesday morning, giving them a few words of welcome, a few
words of encouragement and a few words of direction for the days ahead.

It will be good to hear Hodgson talking to players. He failed to communicate with the country’s best centre-half, Rio Ferdinand, until too late and England will discover how damaging the consequences are against Montenegro.

In the Football Association’s 150th anniversary comes a story that chronicles how the game has changed, reflecting the tilt in clubs’ power over country, players turning into mini-corporations and social media further empowering stars. This is a tale containing elements of farce, conceivably of revenge, definitely of constant confusion and clearly injurious to renowned individuals and institutions.

Hodgson’s reputation has been harmed by his naïve handling of the Ferdinand saga, turning a sensitive but avoidable situation into a bit of a fiasco. England’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup have been tempered by the defender’s no-show. For all its sweet talking, the FA has been cuckolded. Even Ferdinand is hardly triumphant; when his country needed him, he turned his sore back, and that is a memory that stains his England legacy.

When the smoke clears on this battle for the high ground, only one winner emerges: Sir Alex Ferguson. Manchester United's manager has his most important defender resting, preparing for a continued assault on the Double. Ferguson’s job is to protect United’s interests. Job done.

Ferdinand could surely have juggled his country-and-club training schedule to manage his back condition, perhaps even missing San Marino on Friday and Sunderland on March 30 to form a new programme in readiness for Montenegro in the World Cup qualifiers on March 26 and Chelsea in the FA Cup on April 1. Hardly impossible.

Ferdinand talked of an “intricate pre-planned programme”, a glossary seemingly drawn from Cape Canaveral not Carrington. Listening to seething radio phone-ins last night, an annoyed Ferdinand had hoped that those “ex sportsman who have experience with injuries + maintenance would know better than to chat rubbish like they are doing’’. Fair enough but it is Ferdinand who has ended his own England career.

For such a likeable character, and a man with genuine patriotic tendencies, it’s a frustrating waste. Ferdinand could have defended well against Montenegro and then seen out his England career at a World Cup. In Brazil. In the Maracana. United supporters were crowing last night about their club being more important than England yet the standing of many players is defined by their international achievements. Even after 47 years of hurt, England are still the team that commands most debate.

Many England fans will believe Ferdinand is missing solely because of previous between him and Hodgson, because of his back-story, not the back story. Only Ferdinand can properly confirm whether yesterday’s humiliation of Hodgson was rooted in revenge for the negative narrative of last summer. Even for neutral observers, Hodgson’s treatment of Ferdinand on the eve of Euro 2012 was wrong. His omission for what Hodgson termed “footballing reasons” stirred laughter, then anger.

It was felt that Hodgson’s preference for picking John Terry, and excluding Ferdinand, must be interwoven with concerns about squad harmony after Terry was charged with racially abusing Ferdinand’s brother, Anton. When Gary Cahill was then ruled out, and the totally inexperienced Martin Kelly called in, an exasperated Ferdinand tweeted “what reasons?????!!!” Understandably.

Fast forward 10 months and Hodgson urgently needs Ferdinand. Terry has retired internationally. Phil Jagielka, Phil Jones and Michael Dawson are injured. Gary Cahill is a doubt. Ryan Shawcross proved against Zlatan Ibrahimovic that he may not be suitable for international football. Steven Taylor is deemed occasionally error-prone. Chris Smalling is available. Joleon Lescott and Steven Caulker have been drafted in. Against lowly San Marino, Hodgson could follow Michael Laudrup’s Capital One Cup final example with Ki Sung-yeung and insert a midfielder into defence (like Michael Carrick). Whatever, he will need Smalling and Lescott against Montenegro. Hodgson really could have done with Ferdinand in ­Podgorica.

In the build-up to the squad announcement on March 14, it is understood that England’s medical staff contacted United’s to discuss the fitness and potential availability of six of their players.

Ferdinand’s name was not mentioned. That suggested he was either not in Hodgson’s thoughts or the England manager had read about the defender’s willingness to “pack my bags” and report when his country next called.

Hodgson is an intelligent individual yet a manager one step removed from the modern professional. He was too trusting to expect Ferdinand to report without a clear-the-air call, clarifying why he backed Terry, why he indiscreetly told strap-hangers on the Jubilee Line the United player’s England career was over and why he picked Kelly for the Euros. News of their meeting might have leaked. Better that than a leaky defence in Podgorica.

Sunday evening’s eventual pow-wow in a London hotel was all very cordial apparently. It was seen as a sign of Ferdinand’s keenness to meet Hodgson, and keep the door open for the future, that he hopped on the 4.30pm to Euston, spent an hour talking with Hodgson in a London hotel, and then caught the late rattler back north. Ferdinand came away feeling upbeat. Hodgson wished him luck in the Cup replay with Chelsea. This meeting should have been held a fortnight ago.

Hodgson has been partly let down by the FA system. The governing body needs to keep a detailed archive of an England manager’s views, rows, good and bad decisions for his successor to inherit and dissect.

Phil Neville is wanted by the Football Association to assist Stuart Pearce at the European Under-21 Championship in Israel this summer. The Everton player, who helped out the Under-21 team against Belgium last year, is viewed as a substantial coaching prospect by the FA, which is looking to give more coaching experience to former England internationals. Phil’s brother Gary has already proved a great success with the England seniors.